Dr. Farris to Speak at Faith and Reason Lecture on Friday

September 18th, 2012

Once a semester, PHC students crowd into the Town Hall building to celebrate Christian scholarship and faith paired with reason. This semester’s Faith & Reason lecture is Friday, Sept. 21, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Dr. Michael Farris is this semester's lecturer and will be drawing from his book From Tyndale to Madison: How the Death of an English Martyr Led to the American Bill of Rights. This event will be webcast live from Townhall.

His lecture is entitled “Religious Liberty: Did it arise from Faith or Reason?” What follows is the summary of the lecture:

It is commonly claimed the advent of religious liberty was a triumph arising from the Enlightenment. Is this true? Did religious liberty arise from the Reformation or the Enlightenment or some other source?

In England and colonial America all religious persecution arose when one brand of Christianity attempted to compel all others--including other professing Christians--to conform to their view of orthodoxy. Does this fact support the claim that the Enlightenment was responsible for the rise of religious liberty?

Michael Farris will examine the rise of religious liberty to assess the actions and philosophies which led to this singular achievement for early America--a topic covered in depth in his book From Tyndale to Madison.

He will then explore the modern clash on religious liberty to explore whether modern secularism has in fact abandoned its espousal of this fundamental American freedom.

Constitutional lawyer, author, leading pro-family activist and homeschooling pioneer, Dr. Farris is listed as one of “Top Ten Kingmakers of the Religious Right,” according to Religion News Service. Named among the 100 most significant “Faces of the Century” in education by Education Week, Farris was featured in Praying for the World’s 365 Most Influential People.

His book, From Tyndale to Madison: How the Death of an English Martyr Led to the American Bill of Rights, examines whether America was envisioned as a strictly Christian nation by expanding the understanding of America’s founding, revealing the God who rules all countries and giving an honest accounting of the fallen men who have served as His agents.

If you are on the other side of the country and still want to listen in, don't forget to tune into our live webcast!